“I pretended to be different people,” he says. “I’m a much more colorful and flamboyant person than I ever allowed myself to be …. when acting came to me it was a very obvious choice.”

Bewley isn’t a household name by any stretch, but he carries himself with the confidence of one. That poise clearly stood out during his audition for Demitri, a member of the Volturi clan in the “Twilight” saga.

“When you’re a vampire and you’ve got a smile on your face its very unnerving,” he says of his approach to the role.

The British-born Bewley stood in the Volturi vault set along with actor Michael Sheen (“Frost/Nixon&rdquo and took a beat to appreciate his good fortune.

“You realize you’re on the set of ‘Twilight’ watching one of the best theatrically trained actors in film today,” Bewley says of Sheen. “It’s a free acting lesson.”

“Actually, it’s a pretty expensive one,“ he adds, smiling. “You have to soak it up.”

Bewley, who plays the cool Volturi vampire Demetri in the film, has been doing plenty of soaking since being cast in the popular franchise.

He went from a virtual unknown to someone with a sizeable Facebook fan base – 3,500 and counting. And when he dropped by the Blockbuster video store in Parker, Colo. March 19 to christen the release of “New Moon” on DVD and Blu-ray roughly 400 fans braved a snow storm to greet him.

The young actor spoke to WWTW about his switch to acting, his appreciation for the “Twilight” franchise and how business and acting need to go hand in hand.

Bewley, his hair artfully mussed, marvels that he could draw such a crowd even though his face doesn’t appear on the film’s poster.

“The role, in terms of the film, is not as big as the big guys,” he says of Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner and Kristen Stewart. “But I get to travel everywhere around the world to meet fans. They hang on every word. It’s wonderful to be involved in.”

When he shot his “New Moon” scenes in Italy, “thousands of chicks” lined the streets of a tiny village to greet him and the cast.

Bewley isn’t quite as dedicated to Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight” books – “it’s too overwhelming for my stone-cold heart,” he says with a grin – but he understands the all-consuming appeal.

“The storyline makes vampires accessible to a demographic that was previously taboo,” he says. But the novels also allow readers to indulge in a love story with which they can empathize.

“It’s like a 14-year-old girl who’s in love with an 18-year-old boy. That same kind of feeling that it’s not allowed, but you want it,” he says. “That’s what Bella goes through. That’s an addictive thing.”

Tomorrow: Bewley talks about how acting snuck up on him and how he intends to use “Twilight” to springboard to action hero status.